Weather tracker: Contrasts in cold and heat break records in China

Xinjiang in the north-west recorded minus 52.3C, while Badu in the south recorded 38C – the largest temperature contrast recorded in a single country

China’s Xinjiang region, in the far west of the country, experienced record-breaking low temperatures of minus 52.3C on 18 February surpassing a 64-year-old record for the region. The figure was just shy of the lowest national temperature of minus 53C which was recorded in the Heilongjiang region in January last year.

The extreme weather has caused big disruption after the lunar new year celebrations, with blizzards and ice leaving people stranded on roads and railways. On the same day, Badu in the south of China recorded a maximum temperature of 38C, meaning there was a staggering temperature difference of 90.3C across the country. This is the largest temperature contrast ever recorded for a single country, surpassing the US in January 1954 by a whole degree Celsius.